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Suspect Bucket posted:I think you're just gonna want to mix more water retaining soil stuff in to your bed. Compost, soaked wood chips, horse stall scrapings, stuff like that. Thanks for the advice. I was thinking I'd have to buy some, but I discovered that I can get free compost from my city's recycling program. Now I have a lot. I spent many hours this week digging out gravel, so I will get to have a proper-sized garden this year.
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Apr 14, 2017 05:39
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Trillian posted:Thanks for the advice. I was thinking I'd have to buy some, but I discovered that I can get free compost from my city's recycling program. Now I have a lot. This might be of interest to you, from a few pages back in the thread in case you missed it: Cpt.Wacky posted:That's a fine way to test if stuff grows in it but doesn't really address the safety issue. Of course, your city's compost could be totally fine, but it might be worth looking into.
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Apr 14, 2017 16:45
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Every bagged compost I have seen at Homedepot has an animal's poo poo and piss in it, so don't buy that either. In fact, the ground has worm poop in it, guess you are limited to hydroponics.
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Apr 15, 2017 06:05
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It's (human waste) been used in U.K. crop growing for decades, in our area there is a new thing where we have too much paper being collected for recycling than they can handle, so it's being mulched and given to farmers to put of the fields for free. I bought the trees for my small orchard  four apple and a cherry on M106 rootstock/colt. Also stuff has been sown in my allotment and propigators. Can't get down there this weekend but next week will be a hive of activity as stuff like potatoes and a decent digging fork gets delivered.
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Apr 15, 2017 07:56
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Ugh. I was replanting some flowers for my dad, and his garden bed smelled terrible. Like death and sewage. He said it was the fertilizer he put on last year. WTF? Isn't that chemical stuff supposed to break down after awhile? I make my compost out of cat poo poo, wood chips, old cracked eggs and other food scraps, and hot composting it, and after a year it smells like a god drat fresh spring morning.
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Apr 15, 2017 13:37
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Every bagged compost I have seen at Homedepot has an animal's poo poo and piss in it, so don't buy that either. Poop and pee, properly composted, is good to put on your garden and everyone should do more of it. The issue here is everything else that can potentially be in the sewage sludge. I'm not saying don't use municipal compost at all ever. Ask the producer what the inputs are, think through what could possibly be in those inputs and then make a decision about whether you want to use it in your garden. Suspect Bucket posted:Ugh. I was replanting some flowers for my dad, and his garden bed smelled terrible. Like death and sewage. He said it was the fertilizer he put on last year. WTF? Isn't that chemical stuff supposed to break down after awhile? It really depends on what is was. Bad smells like that usually come from anerobic bacteria, which could be caused by very wet or compacted soil. A good amount of steer manure could still have a smell after a year if the conditions didn't lead to much decomposition. Some organic fertilizers can have bad smells too like blood meal or liquid fish/fish emulsion, and they take longer to break down too.
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Apr 15, 2017 17:46
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You can get felt pots which, for obvious reasons, you can't seriously overwater. You can put dessicants into the bottom of pots also to absorb some extra water.
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Apr 15, 2017 20:04
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Poop and pee, properly composted, is good to put on your garden and everyone should do more of it. The issue here is everything else that can potentially be in the sewage sludge. I'm not saying don't use municipal compost at all ever. Ask the producer what the inputs are, think through what could possibly be in those inputs and then make a decision about whether you want to use it in your garden. If you look into it, you will find that chickens are fed WAY more antibiotics, hormones, etc. than the average American. Chicken manure is found in every bagged compost and bagged organic fertilizer than I have looked at. It is properly composted, just like the municipal compost.
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Apr 15, 2017 21:34
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Had this little guy for two weeks. I haven't watered him yet, just stuck him in a terra cotta next to a south-facing window and he's been getting progressively droopier. Is he not getting enough sun? Do I need to transplant him into sandier soil? 
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Apr 15, 2017 23:14
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I have never successfully grown rosemary in a pot.
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Apr 16, 2017 00:51
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They like alkaline soil mixed with sand and lots of sun. if the window is cold in the morning then he won't like that - forgetting this is what has always killed mine.
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Apr 16, 2017 07:07
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kedo posted:This might be of interest to you, from a few pages back in the thread in case you missed it: This is interesting info. In this case the compost comes from the kitchen waste collection program, so I probably don't have much to fear aside from whatever weird things people put in their bins. The city won't collect your bin if you have the temerity to put yard waste in it, so I assume they're keeping it separate. I didn't ask about it, though.
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Apr 16, 2017 07:54
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Finally got all the dirt and things mixed into the beds, and filled up the beds in the front of the house, everything planted. Kept waiting for the rain to show up today so I would know if I had to water everything or not. Our beds are currently flooded and not draining all that fast. 
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Apr 16, 2017 22:03
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Fozzy The Bear posted:If you look into it, you will find that chickens are fed WAY more antibiotics, hormones, etc. than the average American. It's not really the antibiotics you need to be worried about. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/04/cocaine-london-sewers-highest-level-europe-drug-uk
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Apr 17, 2017 14:54
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Admiral Joeslop posted:Finally got all the dirt and things mixed into the beds, and filled up the beds in the front of the house, everything planted. Kept waiting for the rain to show up today so I would know if I had to water everything or not. Are they raised beds? Drill some holes!
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Apr 17, 2017 18:51
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DavidAlltheTime posted:Are they raised beds? Drill some holes! They sure are, and I may do that. I will probably have to replant the seeds.
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Apr 17, 2017 18:52
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Hubis posted:It's not really the antibiotics you need to be worried about. Hold on, I'm going to go snort my garden.
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Apr 18, 2017 02:47
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Admiral Joeslop posted:They sure are, and I may do that. I will probably have to replant the seeds. If you have bad draining soil it might be worth starting over with the raised bed(s), dig down a bit and dump some gravel under ground level.
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Apr 18, 2017 04:06
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You can have all the gravel and builders rubble that's on the surface of my garden for free if you like.
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Apr 18, 2017 07:32
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learnincurve posted:You can have all the gravel and builders rubble that's on the surface of my garden for free if you like. Crosspost to show what you should be doing with your rocks: Every digging session is an adventure. Found some neat fossils to boot. 
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Apr 18, 2017 13:57
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snucks posted:Had this little guy for two weeks. I haven't watered him yet, just stuck him in a terra cotta next to a south-facing window and he's been getting progressively droopier. Is he not getting enough sun? Do I need to transplant him into sandier soil?
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Apr 18, 2017 22:32
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coyo7e posted:this is a troll right Could go either way. Overwatering Rosemary is just as bad as underwatering.
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Apr 18, 2017 23:02
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snucks posted:Had this little guy for two weeks. I haven't watered him yet, just stuck him in a terra cotta next to a south-facing window and he's been getting progressively droopier. Is he not getting enough sun? Do I need to transplant him into sandier soil?
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Apr 18, 2017 23:32
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Made a video of my new raised beds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WckBiziNjqc
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Apr 22, 2017 22:27
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Made a video of my new raised beds. Awesome. I still haven't copied your planter block beds yet but I hope to get them up in a couple weeks. I'm desperate to get some berry bushes going since I won't get a harvest for a couple years. Also want to get the strawberries going so I can pinch flowers and let the plants explode this year. Any tips for killing the grass with dogs? I wanted to use wet cardboard but the dogs will probably shred that poo poo everywhere. How many days does it take to kill off the grass by smothering it? Otherwise my alternative is to dig it up.
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Apr 23, 2017 02:15
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coyo7e posted:this is a troll right 
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Apr 23, 2017 02:43
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Finally bought our own tiller to go with the new house. Tilled up the previous owners fenced in dog run over the weekend for hopefully deer resistant gardening and HOLY poo poo THIS YARD IS FULL OF ROCKS. The new tiller handled it like a boss, even broke a few of the quartz chunks up but it still kicked my rear end all over the yard. I've never seen so much quartz in one place. I added a 5000+ lumen LED light to the rear corner of the house, hopefully between it and the fence I won't have to merc Bambi this summer - I'm not optimistic though. One morning after work I watched twenty something deer walk into the tree line in the back yard. mischief fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Apr 23, 2017 |
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Apr 23, 2017 03:48
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Made a video of my new raised beds. Are those corner/joining posts store bought or homemade?
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Apr 23, 2017 04:26
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Spookydonut posted:Are those corner/joining posts store bought or homemade? https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...AodqHYDvw#spf=1 Spookydonut posted:Are those corner/joining posts store bought or homemade? http://m.homedepot.com/p/Oldcastle-8-in-x-8-in-x-6-in-Tan-Brown-Planter-Wall-Block-16202336/206501693
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Apr 23, 2017 05:21
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mischief posted:Finally bought our own tiller to go with the new house. Tilled up the previous owners fenced in dog run over the weekend for hopefully deer resistant gardening and HOLY poo poo THIS YARD IS FULL OF ROCKS. The new tiller handled it like a boss, even broke a few of the quartz chunks up but it still kicked my rear end all over the yard. If it's not too indiscreet where are you? I remember when I lived in New England the few gardening attempts I tried revealed to me the rocky futility of the soil. And of course if I got around that there were all the animals...
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Apr 23, 2017 08:08
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Kjermzs posted:https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...AodqHYDvw#spf=1 Made of concrete, interesting.
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Apr 23, 2017 09:31
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Kjermzs posted:
I did an experiment with various weed control methods when I created the borders from lawn*. The cardboard experiment was a monumental failure because the dogs kept running over it and it shifted so there were gaps. Use Tarpaulin and weigh it down with rocks. You can also use old carpet or rugs. It takes a month or so for it to be dead. If you dig it up make a pile with grass on grass and cover it with tarp or weed membrane, in a year you will have the nicest loam. *No getting round it, digging the whole lot out and adding new soil was by far the best way.
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Apr 23, 2017 10:41
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I just saw a thing about no-dig gardening that suggests keeping the soil matrix intact results in better soil. So, no digging over or killing the grass, you just put your beds right on top, the grass will just go back to enrich the soil. It was this week's Gardener's World with Charles Dowding if anyone is interested (ep7)
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Apr 23, 2017 13:29
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Pheasant Revolution posted:I just saw a thing about no-dig gardening that suggests keeping the soil matrix intact results in better soil. So, no digging over or killing the grass, you just put your beds right on top, the grass will just go back to enrich the soil. It was this week's Gardener's World with Charles Dowding if anyone is interested (ep7) Snip dead or unwanted plants off at ground level, leave the roots in, as they die/rot it leaves tiny channels in the soil for aeration.
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Apr 23, 2017 15:33
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Pheasant Revolution posted:I just saw a thing about no-dig gardening that suggests keeping the soil matrix intact results in better soil. So, no digging over or killing the grass, you just put your beds right on top, the grass will just go back to enrich the soil. It was this week's Gardener's World with Charles Dowding if anyone is interested (ep7) Maybe if you don't have weeds and/or really deep beds. Dandelions and other weeds keep poking up through my beds near the edges where I didn't dig them out well enough.
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Apr 23, 2017 15:32
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I live in zone 5, last frost being ~May 3. I'm super lazy this year and didn't start any seeds indoors. I once started basil from seeds and overplanted as gently caress (like, 1-3 seeds spaced by an inch) and ended up ripping out half of them to give them a chance to grow. Could I just start some tomato plants straight in my balcony beds, or is it less hardy than basil?
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Apr 23, 2017 15:54
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Kjermzs posted:
Oh hey I just saw those at my local HD and thought they were pretty neat but uncertain how well they would keep everything together. Laughing at the thought of pounding rebar through what consists of 75% riverrock. Fog Tripper fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Apr 23, 2017 |
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Apr 23, 2017 16:05
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Jan posted:I live in zone 5, last frost being ~May 3. I'm super lazy this year and didn't start any seeds indoors. I once started basil from seeds and overplanted as gently caress (like, 1-3 seeds spaced by an inch) and ended up ripping out half of them to give them a chance to grow. Could I just start some tomato plants straight in my balcony beds, or is it less hardy than basil? Generally you want to start them in small pots. For me it makes it easier to trellis them, direct in the beds makes it slightly harder to do that.
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Apr 23, 2017 16:54
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Spookydonut posted:Generally you want to start them in small pots. For me it makes it easier to trellis them, direct in the beds makes it slightly harder to do that. Well, I should've said "planters", not "beds". And I'm pretty sure they already qualify as "small pots". The only sizeable thing I have is a large planter, which I got after this thread rightfully pointed out that my planters were way too small for three plants:  Looking at dates, it looks like I planted indoors at the same time last year, so I guess it's not too late to be un-lazy. Comedy picture of the extra tomato plants I kept indoors due to lack of planters outdoors. Not enough light, you say?   Also, what about reusing soil full of old roots? As recommended, I chopped off the plants close to the root at the end of last year, to let the old roots aerate the soil, etc. etc. But some pots are especially packed with roots, to the point the entire chunk of soil came out with the stem. Are new plants still going to be able to get their own roots out?
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Apr 23, 2017 18:00
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Jan posted:Also, what about reusing soil full of old roots? As recommended, I chopped off the plants close to the root at the end of last year, to let the old roots aerate the soil, etc. etc. But some pots are especially packed with roots, to the point the entire chunk of soil came out with the stem. Are new plants still going to be able to get their own roots out? Leaving the roots to improve the soil only applies when you plant something in the ground, not pots. I would pull the roots out and shake off the soil, then reuse the soil.
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Apr 23, 2017 19:00
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